Southland Conference Suspends 2 Players For Brawl

The Southland Conference suspended two players one game each Tuesday and reprimanded the Southeastern Louisiana and Texas State basketball teams for a bench-clearing brawl between the teams last week.

Southeastern Louisiana's Chris Cyprian sat out of Saturday's game with Texas-San Antonio.

Texas State appealed Brent Benson's suspension. After reviewing tape from the Feb. 4 fight, the committee upheld the conference's decision Tuesday. Benson will miss Wednesday's game with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

The two were ejected after an altercation in the second half of their game in San Marcos. Players from both teams then rushed the floor and had to be separated before Benson, Cyprian and two other players were ejected.

"It was an altercation that was very regrettable and is not what we stand for," Southeastern head coach Jim Yarbrough said in a statement posted on the team's Web site about Cyprian's suspension. "There is no room for fighting in this game."

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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